and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings (Rev 10:1—3, 8—11).
The open book is the Apocalypse.
The sweetness of the book is the sweetness of the Revelation concerning the salvation of those who believe in Jesus Christ. The bitterness of the book is the bitterness of the Revelation concerning the doom of unbelievers.
The ancient prophets also received their prophecies by symbolically eating the scroll:
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts (Jer 15:16).
And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; and he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe. Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness (Ezek 2:9—3:3).
The Apocalypse was sent from heaven and must be preserved in its original form:
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book (Rev 22:16—19).
The Church faithfully kept the Revelation of John intact, and it has reached our day in its original form. Those who tried to distort the text of the Book of Heaven have received their due punishment.
In the middle of the 20th century, the Dead Sea scrolls containing the sacred books of the Essenes were discovered near the Dead Sea. Among all the others, they found a scroll containing the Apocalypse of Essenes, which had a significant amount of deviations from the original. As punishment for their presumption, the Lord wiped out the community of the Essenes from the face of the earth.
Part 2. The three beasts
Chapter 2:1. The removal of the first four seals: Come and see
The opening of the book of life, sealed with seven seals, will reveal the names of those who will be saved in the last days. But before this happens, all the seals must be removed. The removal of each seal from the book of life signifies a certain milestone in the history of the world, which must occur prior to these events. Let us read about the removal of the first four seals:
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth (Rev 6:1—8).
The rider on a white horse is a symbol of the Christian monarch. He holds the spiritual bow to defeat the enemies of the Church, and God granted him the crown of absolute authority.
The removal of the first seal pertains to a prophecy concerning the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (4th century). When Constantine was a pagan, he saw a miraculous sign in the form of a cross in heaven, just before entering an important battle, and heard a voice saying: “With this you shall win”. Constantine commanded that the sign of the cross be depicted on all the banners of his army, and he rode out victorious, ready to win. His army won the battle, and since then Constantine put his faith in Jesus Christ and stopped persecuting Christians. Later he became the first Orthodox Christian monarch. After the fall of Byzantium, the Eastern Roman Empire, Russia assumed the role of the world Orthodox Christian monarchy. This tradition was interrupted only with the collapse of the Russian Empire following the February coup and the subsequent events.
The rider on the red horse is the symbol of the first Antichrist, who is identified in the Apocalypse as the Beast rising out of the sea (Rev 13:1). He came to plunge the world into fratricidal wars, and he was given a great spiritual word-sword – an abominable slander against God.
The removal of the second seal pertains to a prophecy about the communist dictator Vladimir Ulyanov-Lenin, who usurped power in Russia after the October Revolution.
The rider on the black horse represents the second Antichrist, identified in the Apocalypse as the Beast rising out of the earth (Rev 13:11). He came to bring hunger and persecutions to the Church.
The removal of the third seal contains a prophecy concerning the second communist dictator Joseph Dzhugashvili-Stalin, who came to power after the death of the first one.
The rider on the pale horse is the symbol of the third Antichrist, identified in the Apocalypse as the Beast rising out of the bottomless pit (Rev 11:7). He must come and bring great tribulations.
The removal of the fourth seal contains a prophecy of the coming of the false messiah, who is the man of sin [and] the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God (2 Thess 2:3—4).
Excursus 2:1. The Antichrists
The word “Antichrist” means “the enemy of Christ”. This is how John referred to all the non-Christians who deny Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior, who died and rose again for our salvation:
For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist (2 Jn 1:7).
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist,
